Mobilizing For The Millennium
International Association Meeting -- May 20 & 21, 1999

The BMWE's annual International Association meeting of Grand Lodge and System Officers was called to order at 8:30 AM on Thursday, May 20, 1999 by President Mac A. Fleming. Shortly thereafter a full day program -- Mobilizing for the Millennium -- began. See page 11 for highlights of the meeting.

International Association Meeting -- May 20 & 21, 1999

Left to right, Mac Fleming, Tony Wheeler, Mike De Emilio, Bill LaRue

Joel Myron

Tim McCall

Vice President Rick Wehrli

The mobilization program presented at the IA meeting was organized by Rick Inclima, Director of Education & Safety, and co-presented by Paul Swanson, Director of Organizing, and Michael De Emilio, Political Director, assisted by Karl Knutsen, who has been active in preparing for the BMWE's Register to Vote campaign discussed elsewhere in this JOURNAL, and Earl O'Neal, AFL-CIO Assistant Political Director for Voter Mobilization.

Although most of the officers attending the IA meeting are experienced in mobilization strategies and tactics, an updated refresher program was welcomed as one way to resharpen the skills needed for the 2000 round of bargaining. The program included short videos, slide presentations, lectures, small group exercises and group reports. Joel Myron, Director of Strategic Coordination & Research, emphasized the importance of politics to the upcoming 2000 Round and the critical necessity for everyone to work together to get a good result.

BMWE status reports given on Friday included: Safety, Inclima; Canada, Gary Housch, Vice President; Legislative, De Emilio; Agreements, Myron; Health & Welfare, William Hildenbrand, Assistant to President; Organizing, Timothy McCall, Staff Assistant-Organizing; and Jim Superfisky, Director of Information Systems, who discussed what Grand Lodge has done to its computer system to deal with the so-called "Y2K" potential problem in the year 2000.

Secretary-Treasurer William E. LaRue presented the annual financial report of the BMWE. LaRue was also pleased to present new BMWE pocket watches to individual recipients of this year's Maintenance of Way Political League awards.

Receiving the honored awards were: Tony Wheeler, highest contributing member; Michael Thomas, highest contributing retiree; Lodge 2414, highest contributing local lodge; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe System Federation, highest contributing system, accepted by Mark Hemphill, General Chairman; Northwestern, highest contributing region, accepted by Leon Fenhaus, Chairman; and outstanding state legislative director, Robert Almaguer from the State of Illinois.

During the good and welfare portion of the meeting, just prior to adjournment, the following resolution was passed by the assembly:

WHEREAS, the moratorium on the U.S. National Agreement expires on December 31, 1999; and

WHEREAS, the railroads in the U.S. are already preparing for national bargaining; and

WHEREAS, the struggle to obtain a fair agreement and fair results for our membership requires single-minded absolute unity within the BMWE at all levels of the BMWE; and

WHEREAS, the struggle to obtain a fair agreement and fair results for our membership is multi-faceted and must be waged in the political arena as well as at the bargaining table; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the International Association of the BMWE convened at Las Vegas, Nevada, May 20-21, 1999, authorizes Grand Lodge to prepare for and enter into negotiations and use all of the resources at its command to obtain the best possible agreement during the next bargaining round; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the International Association of the BMWE express its commitment to provide all support possible to our leadership in the political and bargaining arenas to obtain a superb agreement for our members; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the International Association of the BMWE urge BMWE and the rest of rail labor to wage the most vigorous campaign possible on all fronts to obtain full benefit retirement at age 55.